Academe Today

A New History of the Right Has Become an Intellectual Flashpoint

On the controversy surrounding the Duke historian Nancy MacLean’s Democracy in Chains.

Nancy MacLean Responds to Her Critics

“Such rhetorical bullying would be laughable if it weren’t part of a pattern on the right,” says the Duke professor of history and public policy.

Sexual Assault

Students Accused of Sexual Assault Have the Government’s Ear. What Are Their Goals?

These students and their allies stress that they want the campus disciplinary process to be fair. But that’s not all they’re fighting for.

Special Reports

Breaking Down Barriers Across Disciplines

Academe is far from resolving complicated questions surrounding interdisciplinary research, but some campuses have found ways to grease the wheels of collaboration.

Government

Former Top Official in Obama’s Education Dept. Is Named President of ACE

The American Council on Education’s choice is Ted Mitchell, under secretary of education from 2014 to 2017, who will take office as the Trump administration seeks to dismantle some of his policy priorities.

Commentary

Why Most Republicans Don’t Like Higher Education

College leaders must balance academic freedom and student safety. But to some critics, colleges seem to favor stifling speech and protecting students from controversial ideas.

Lingua Franca

When Is a Proper Name a Proper Noun?

Rose Jacobs explains why it’s so hard to teach English-as-a-second-language students how to use a, an, and the, proving the madness of searching for hard-and-fast rules about our language.

First Person

The Worst F-Word

A tenure-track dream you’ve spent 14 years pursuing is not an easy thing to give up.

Vitae

Sar-Chasm in the Classroom

I do my best to avoid snarky rejoinders when I’m teaching, yet they pop out uninvited.